About My Blog
Reading2008.com (a) explains the difficulties faced by children with learning and other disabilities, (b) discusses methods for evaluating children, improving instruction, and avoiding unnecessary legal conflicts, (c) offers tips for improving IEPs, and (d) explains how parents can advocate for their children.
What's Great About My Blog
Obviously, we're biased as we developed the blog (www.reading2008.com/blog) and write many of its posts. Our other posts are written by leading experts.
Here’s some information about us: Howard Margolis was a special education teacher and reading specialist, a professor of special education and reading disabilities, a journal editor, and a special education hearing officer. Gary G. Brannigan is a professor of psychology and a Chancellor’s Scholar at the State University of New York. He’s a highly experienced school and clinical psychologist.
We think our blog can help kids, parents, and teachers because we avoid hype and stress the practical application of research. In addition to discussing research in practical ways, we use our vast clinical and advocacy experience to show parents and teachers how to prevent and solve problems, such as solving conflicts at IEP meetings, minimizing anxiety in children and parents, and motivating children to read despite their history of reading disabilities.
Advice
- To get children with learning disabilities the programs and services they need requires a major commitment from parents. It requires that they become highly knowledgeable about their children’s disabilities and abilities, federal and state laws and the regulations governing them, and research-based instructional strategies and therapies for helping their children overcome their disabilities. To ensure their children’s programs are effective, parents need to get their children quality evaluations that go beyond testing; plan programs with teachers; and with teachers, monitor their children’s progress.
